Local non-profits receive Sprint Foundation grants as part of company’s Dallas/Fort Worth Local Giving Program, now in its fourth year

November 06, 2012

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (BUSINESS WIRE), November 06, 2012 - Sprint (NYSE: S) recently announced the 2012 recipients of its Dallas/Fort Worth Local Giving Program. In total, three area non-profit organizations were awarded grants as part of this signature community-support program. The Dallas/Fort Worth Local Giving Program awards Sprint Foundation grants totaling $50,000 to area non-profits that support Sprint’s philanthropic focus areas of youth development (including mentoring, leadership and academic achievement), arts and culture, and environmental stewardship. Grants were presented and recipient organizations were honored at a local reception last week.

The 2012 grant recipients are as follows:

Camp Fire Lone Star was awarded a $25,000 Sprint Foundation grant for its Kids Club Youth Development Program. This funding will be used to support Kids Club, a free after-school and summer youth-development program for 1,000 low-income, at-risk elementary school children. Kids Club provides academic enrichment in reading and math, daily homework assistance, tutoring, and an array of educational programs.

REAL School Gardens was awarded a $15,000 Sprint Foundation grant to further its mission of growing successful students in learning gardens. This funding will be used to establish an outdoor classroom benefitting more than 550 elementary students. The garden will include organic vegetables; native Texas plants to host birds, butterflies and small wildlife; and composting and rainwater-catchment systems. Students will track weather patterns, explore the life cycle of insects, and learn about geological processes.

YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas was awarded a $10,000 Sprint Foundation grant to support more than 1,800 economically disadvantaged students who annually participate in the Camp Grady Spruce Outdoor Education Program. This camp offers a unique outdoor experience that brings youth into nature and reinforces environmental-education curriculums taught in classrooms. Students’ activities include archery, hiking, canoeing, and gathering soil and aquatic samples to gain new skills in the areas of science and environmental stewardship.

Sprint is a long-time supporter of the Dallas/Fort Worth community, and this is the fourth year Sprint has conducted the Dallas/Fort Worth Local Giving Program. In total, through this and similar programs, Sprint has provided more than $220,000 in support to Dallas/Fort Worth-area non-profits, including Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Dallas and Junior Achievement of Dallas and Ft. Worth. To learn more about either program, please visit www.sprint.com/localgiving.

About Sprint Nextel

Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel served nearly 56 million customers at the end of the third quarter of 2012 and is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including the first wireless 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; offering industry-leading mobile data services, leading prepaid brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, and Assurance Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. The American Customer Satisfaction Index rated Sprint No. 1 among all national carriers in customer satisfaction and most improved, across all 47 industries, during the last four years. Newsweek ranked Sprint No. 3 in both its 2011 and 2012 Green Rankings, listing it as one of the nation’s greenest companies, the highest of any telecommunications company. You can learn more and visit Sprint at www.sprint.com or www.facebook.com/sprint and www.twitter.com/sprint.

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